Composition News from the 2015-2016 Academic Year

Cristian Grases, a member of the USC Thornton Choral and Sacred Music faculty, recently premiered his new composition entitled Nocturnos y Adivinanzas (Nocturnes and Riddles) with Distinguished Concerts International New York. The June 12th concert, held at Carnegie Hall, included a chorus of 200 young singers from across the U.S. The six-movement Nocturnos y Adivinanzas […]

Sarah Gibson (MM ’10, DMA ’15), a member of the USC Thornton Composition faculty, is one of seven composers whose works will be performed by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an ensemble dedicated to reading and performing new contemporary classical music. The ACO’s 25th annual Underwood New Music Readings concert will take place on June […]

The work of the late film composer and USC Thornton alumnus James Horner (BM ’74, composition) was honored by the Houston Symphony earlier this month. The Symphony, under conductor Michael Francis, presented the premiere of Horner’s last completed concert work, which was performed by the orchestra and four French horn soloists, two of whom were […]

USC Thornton alumnus Bear McCreary (BM ’02) was interviewed recently on NPR’s All Things Considered about his success as a film and television composer. His first major studio film score came this year for J.J. Abrams’ thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, which opened March 11. McCreary started out scoring for the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica and […]

Two doctoral candidates and a faculty member of the USC Thornton Composition program have received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. DMA candidate Brett Banducci received the $10,000 Andrew Imbrie Award for “a composer of demonstrated artistic merit.” DMA candidate Thomas Kotcheff (MM ’12) and faculty member Jeffrey Parola were each awarded […]

Andrew Norman, a member of the USC Thornton Composition faculty, premiered a work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil), under conductor Gustavo Dudamel, last week. Norman’s Play: Level 1 is adapted from his 2013 orchestral cycle, Play, which echoes the exuberantly frenetic, startlingly disjointed experience of video game-play, and which was recorded on CD […]

A new viola concerto by Julia Adolphe, a doctoral candidate in the USC Thornton Composition program, will be premiere as part of the New York Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season in November of 2016. The work, which was commissioned by the Philharmonic in 2015, will be performed Nov. 17 and Nov. 19 by Cynthia Phelps, USC […]

“The Source,” a strikingly contemporary oratorio by Ted Hearne, of the USC Thornton Composition faculty, will receive its west coast premiere in October of 2016 as part of LA Opera’s Off Grand performance initiative. The production, which will be staged at REDCAT, is part of an ongoing collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects to present experimental […]

Two members of the USC Thornton family have received Academy Award nominations in the category of “Best Music – Original Score.” Composer and Board of Councilors member Thomas Newman received his nomination for the score to “Bridge of Spies.” In the same category, Thornton collaborator and honorary alumnus John Williams was nominated for “Star Wars: […]